Here you are:
http://thesims2.ea.com/update/index.php

You better hurry up because the site is almost gone, I read on a homepage banner that it was up until January 12th, but I'm not sure, since I don't see the banner anymore...

Tomorrow I'll work on this issue with my boyfriend, I'm keeping my fingers crossed

Same, it had my favourite MSPaint! I also liked the look and feel of every thing, plus, it was the first OS I ever used on my first computer so it has some sentimental value and nostalgia. I still have that laptop, my Windows 8 install killed Windows Vista though - seriously! Nothing works on it now and I had no problems before with anything! Another reason to hate W8 ...

They sound like follow the leader type of people, I'm rockin' Windows Phone 7.5 soon to be 7.8 on a Nokia Lumia 800 - it couldn't be better! Android and iOS can go to hell! - We need a twisted-smiley-evil face.
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TS3 gets a Platinum rating in WINE.

Too bad...finally wanting to actually TRY The Sims 2 - took me about 4 years - and then i get this.

I've installed Deluxe and all the expansion up to AL and I've yet to encounter any problems on W8. Not sure what's going on with you guys.

I'd love to switch back to W7 though.

I did have problems with LA Noire: Complete edition on Steam though, but a fanpatch fixed that.

Have you installed the patches too?
Because I have a problem with them only, specifically with University and Nightlife ones... because they ask you to insert the ep disc before updating. Looking at the processes, it seems there's a trouble when the exe file tries to interact with the disc. We haven't understood why.
(my discs are all original, in case you were wondering).

I've tried with XP on VMware and the installations went along smoothly, the patches installed succesfully too.
But I am not able to play with it because of graphic card problems... At first I wasn't able to increase video resolution, I followed the procedure I found here on this site and it worked, but after installing OFB my walls are all red and flashing. I guess I need to manage it more to make it work.

I'm going to try something else now, I hope I'll be able to play someday

I don't think I've got around to installing any of the patches yet.

Please tell me what you're doing b/c I can't get past University Life Collection. I still have Nightlife, Open for Business Collection, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, and Apartment Life to install!

They keep asking for the 4th Sims 2 disk, but when it goes to update, it just fails! Oh, how I wish, my mouse, keyboard, and USB ports hadn't just stopped working suddenly. I wouldn't have been inspired to just get a new laptop. I wasn't even aware of this Windows 8 issue. All the laptops came w/Windows 8!

What's your directory? That might be a factor.

Last time I had The Sims 2 in a custom directory several expansion pack outfits were missing vertices in CAS.

The directory is a default one: x86. It will not allow me to choose another directory.

So, I downloaded The Sims 2 and my University Life Collection packs w/no problems. I went in and played for a bit just to see if it would run. It was fine.

I couldn't download the patches for either b/c the update fails. But the game plays fine.

My problem started w/Nightlife. It downloads Nightlife fine, I think. It asks me to insert Sims 2 Disk 4 for some update purposes or whatever. When I insert the 4th disk, the update goes trough but then just fails for some reason. That failure causes the expansion installation to terminate! It actually goes from 100 to 0. Haha!

It's very frustrating b/c I just want to play my game.

How were you able to install the games? Please give me your step-by-step!

Poppycock! nonsense, twaddle and bosh!
I just got an Asus G65VW gaming laptop for Christmas. And it comes with Windows 8 pre-installed. I installed the base game, all it's expansions and stuff packs with everything set to the highest levels. And I've had nary a blip.

At my computers shop, we have a sign up with warnings about W8 and how we won't install it on any of our computers because it's just not that great for our main demographic, gamers who want custom PC's and small businesses who want computers with customised interfaces. If they buy the OS themselves and ask for us to put it on there, we will, but we don't have our own supply.

I dislike how, in post-Vista Windows applications, when you go to change fonts and you have a lot of custom fonts installed (150+), it freezes for over a minute, trying to sort things out.

I was finally able to install and play Sims 2, I am so happy!!!

My boyfriend developed a little program that allows me to skip uni and nightlife patch errors, and just keep on with the update.
I don't know if skipping those errors will cause any troubles, but I played for several hours and everything was okay.
If someone has the same problem I had and want to try that program, I am happy to share it

Another list of non working 8 games:

Anomaly: Warzone Earth (Random Crashes)
Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead (Does not pass installer)
BioShock (Does not pass installer)
BioShock 2 (Does not pass installer)
Bulletstorm (Does not pass installer)
Call of Duty: War Chest (Does not pass installer)
Civilization V (Does not launch, black screen)
Combat Arms (Does not even open installer)
Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 (Does not pass installer)
Crysis 2 (Hangs and crashes to desktop on start)
The Darkness 2 (Does not pass installer)
Deadspace 2 (Does not pass installer)
Devil May Cry 4 (Does not pass installer)
Dragon Age II (Does not pass installer)
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (Does not pass installer)
Fallout (Does not allow saving)
Fallout 3 (Non steam edition) (Does allow online activation, rendering it unplayable)
Halo 2 for Windows Vista (Does not pass installer)
LA Noire (Does not pass installer)
Left 4 Dead (Does not pass installer)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Does not pass installer)
Mass Effect 3 (Does not allow online activation, rendering it useless)
Minecraft (Does not pass installer)
Metro 2033 (Does not launch)
Resident Evil (Does not launch)
Resident Evil 2 (Does not launch)
Resident Evil 3 (Launches and installs, but all prerendered images in game are missing)
Resident Evil 4 (Installs and plays, but all textures missing)
Resident Evil 5 (Does not pass installer)
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (Does not launch)
Silent Hill 2 (Installs and plays, all sounds and textures missing)
Silent Hill 3 (Installs and plays, all sounds and textures missing)
Silent Hill 4 (Installs and plays, all sounds and textures missing)
Silent Hill 5 Homecoming (Everything works, however all sounds are missing)
The Sims 2 (Does not pass installer)
The Sims 2 Fun With Pets (Version 2) (Does not allow online activation, rendering it useless)









Obtained List from Hardcore games site. Kinda sad alot of these are EA games. :P

Sounds like it's going to be a while before I move on to a new version of windoze. Win7 seems to be working just fine.

I was also able to successfully install my Sims 2 game (including several expansion packs) on my new HP laptop, which has Windows 8. Here's what I did:

I had to remove the hard drive from my old laptop and make it into an external hard drive b/c the keyboard, mouse, and USB ports stopped working suddenly. I don't think that is necessary though. I copied and pasted all my games from the old hard drive in the Programs file to the Programs (x86) file in Windows 8.

** By the way, I had successfully installed my 4-disk Sims 2 CDs and then the University Life Collection. The UL Collection did not ask me to insert Sims 2 Disk 4 so that installation went fine. Nightlife did ask for the Sims 2 Disk 4, but the update routinely failed each time I tried. **

So, after I transferred all the games from my old HD to the new laptop, I went into the Sims 2 folder in "Program Files," and then went into a folder called, "TSBin." At the bottom of that folder are two files called "TSUPD" and "TSUPD00." I double clicked both of those applications and rec'd messages saying The Sims 2 was already updated. Since that was successful, I decided to try to install the patch again. The other night I couldn't get the patch to install. Guess what? This time, it successfully installed. So, I went into each of my expansion packs in the Program Files and double clicked those TSUPD files. Each time, the installations were successful (i.e., indicated that the Sims 2 was already updated).

After that, I decided to install Nightlife to see what happened. This time, I was asked to install the Sims 2 Disk 1, and it was successful! I did this a couple of days ago, but I don't think the other expansion packs asked me for any of the Sims 2 disks. I was able to install all of them successfully. I entered the game each time to make sure everything looked okay.

I then installed, or rather copied, all my old games and custom content into the file in "Documents" where that stuff is stored. Everything showed up in the game! Yesterday, I played for about 2-3 hours straight w/o the game crashing at all. I did not enter CAS though. Tonight, I played for another 2-3 hours w/no problems!

Anyway, I'm very pleased! Please share this w/anyone who asks b/c it may work for others!

ETA: I don't have Pets. Here is what I installed:

The Sims 2
University Life Collection (includes IKEA Home and Teen style)
Nightlife
Open for Business (includes Kitchen and Home and something else)
Seasons
Bon Voyage
Free Time
Apartment Life

I have been trying to install my Sims 2 games on my computer without luck. The updater fails. I would love to try out that program, please. Thank you.

Sure!
I'm uploading it here, so other people can use it too.

You just have to run the GrumpyLoader and then load the patch exe file in it. Proceed with the patch installation as usual and then the GrumpyLoader will tell you that it encountered an error and will ask you if you want to ignore it. You click yes and go on. It will find another error, just ignore it again and the GrumpyLoader will shut down. Then try to run the patch exe file again and it will tell you that "the sims 2 university has been already updated" (for example).

After this procedure, I've checked every single file in the "Sims 2 University" folder, comparing the win8 ones with the xp ones I have on the virtual machine, and there's a 100% match.

I used this program just for uni and nightlife patches, since I don't have problems with the other ones, because they don't need any cd to run.
I've played for several hours and everything is fine, no bugs no crashes

In case you have troubles, just let me know!

How about providing the source code? Thanks!

Has anyone tried installing SimPE on Windows 8?

ooo - good question.

I have installed The Sims 2 with no expansion packs yet but whenever I go into the game, it allows me to play almost until I choose my sims hair and then stops responding. I have tried it in compatibility mode and admin mode and it still does the same.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks for uploading that Raven, I'll give it a try in a bit. Do you run the programme before trying to install the game?

I've been able to install TS2 base game (from the original 4-disk CD-ROM I got in '04) with no problems, but I get problems patching Nightlife. When it gets to checking that the game is up to date the installer crashes, just as other users have reported. I'm so annoyed at this, I've needed a new laptop for about a year and finally found a good one and saved the money I need and now this. I specifically wanted a laptop that I could run TS2 on well. :'( I've no idea how the base game runs, I haven't tried it yet.

For info, technical issues etc... you can write directly to my boyfriend here: patonza @ gmail. com


Regarding Simpe, I'd like to install it soon; then I'll write my feedback here.

You might want to delete that and send it as a PM to Mootilda. This is viewable by non-members and I doubt your BF wants to be inundated with spam. Pretty sure spambots can read it even with the spaces.